Trevi environmental technology and advice has grown since 1992 into a worldwide partner in the domains of water, air, soil and energy. It is significant that Trevi invests in its own initiatives for green energy. "Our technology for producing electricity from biomass by fermentation is a success," says Stefaan Deboosere.
Trevi was founded in 1992 by former colleagues Stefaan Deboosere and Jacky Mortelmans, with brothers Peter and Frank Vandeputte. "Soon our location at the Kortrijksesteenweg in Ghent was too small and we moved to the Sint-Denijslaan. When we surpassed 40 employees, we bought an empty building on the former Arbed site in Gentbrugge. By 2004, we had transformed this into modern offices, workshops and laboratories. In the meantime, many employees from the early years are still on board and the four founders are still directors," says Stefaan Deboosere, who together with Jacky Mortelmans is responsible for the operational management of the group. From 2004 to 2014 Trevi was awarded ten times with the Trends Gazelle award for fast-growing companies and was twice Voka Ambassador for the Ghent Region. "We have experienced permanent growth since the start, on the one hand by satisfied customers and on the other by seeing opportunities for ourselves through internal developments and acquisitions. Today, we have a multidisciplinary team including environmentalists, process experts, programmers and installers. This enables us to solve all problems from A to Z. We realized projects in more than 40 countries, mainly in the field of air purification we work worldwide. We are also active in various niche markets, such as audits for water treatment in the automotive sector. We still work for our very first customer, Volvo, in Belgium and Sweden, and internationally for Ford and Toyota, among others. And in manure processing, for example, we are the Belgian market leader.
Electricity Manufacturer
Ten years ago Trevi took a remarkable step towards energy. "Together with Biogastec, we obtained a European patent for a biomass fermentation process, combined with a digestate processing method, the remaining liquid. Based on this technological knowledge, we invested with partners in biogas power plants. We built power stations in Rumbeke (2008), Halle (2009), Moorslede (2010), Ardooie (2012) and Menen (2014). This year the construction of a 9 MW installation in Grobbendonk, a first in Belgium, started. We process organic waste into biogas, which we use to generate electricity and heat." The heat is partly used internally in the processing process and partly supplied to neighbouring companies. For the sale of the electricity, the subsidiary Trevion was founded in 2012, which acts as a real energy supplier for companies and private individuals. "The investments and developments for energy by fermentation from biomass were a success."
Potential for the future
The Trevi Group currently employs 110 people in Gentbrugge, Oevel, Roeselare and Roncq in northern France. Deboosere doesn't want to pin himself down for the future. "Our philosophy for the past 25 years has been to see what comes. We are now benefiting from the fruits of 25 years of development and investment: since its foundation in 1992, sales have grown year after year. This year, the 50 million euro gap is in sight, across the various companies together. The most important is that we distinguish ourselves by a complete range of services, ranging from audit over pilot installation to co-investing in construction and eventual operation, and this for water, soil, air and energy. The entire market for environmental technology continues to grow and we in Belgium have a knowledge advantage. There is still a lot of potential and we have a platform for that.